Multitalented
by Millennium Biscuit
Summary: Lief doesn't know if he likes their new travelling arrangement, but Dain is determined to change his mind.


**Multitalented**

**Fandom:** Deltora Quest

**Pairing:** Lief x Dain, mentions of Lief/Dain x Jasmine

**Summary:** Lief doesn't know if he likes their new travelling arrangement, but Dain is determined to change his mind.

**Rating:** K+ » violence and fluff

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><p><em>Trifles light as air<em>

_Are to the jealous confirmations strong_

_As proofs of holy writ._

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><p>Lief doesn't know if he likes him at first, because he's a strange sort of guy and certainly not the sort Lief thought he'd see toughing it out in the wilderness. True, at first he had his misgivings about the Resistance boy, and will admit that he and Barda privately scoffed about him behind his back a couple of times while Dain dawdled along behind them wearing his dreamy smile, lost in thought. More than once, he catches himself giving Dain tasks he doesn't believe he can do just to test him, only to find them completed to above and beyond his satisfaction. When he looks over and expects to see him looking smug or even irritated, Dain just gazes back placidly with no signs of overwork or distress. Lief wonders if maybe he's a little soft in the head, though that wouldn't explain why Doom seemed so fond of him (if "fond" is the right word to apply to Doom in <em>any<em> situation); he doesn't seem the type to put up with a simpleton.

Dain reminds him increasingly of something wild and vulnerable at the same time. He's a little like a fawn, with his long, thin limbs and big dark eyes, and the weird way he always seems to turn to look at Lief _just_ before the boy speaks to him. It's like he just _knows_ things, Lief thinks one night as he catches his gaze over the fire, like a… like a wizard or something.

He knows _people_, too, Lief realizes all of a sudden, when he notices for the first time that Jasmine of all people seems to totally relax whenever he talks to her. He's never actually seen her do that before; normally Jasmine is the most suspicious of any of them, and he and Barda have done well in the past to heed her intuition. This time, though, the wild girl seems totally relaxed. Even Filli and Kree seem to like him; Lief sees them gravitate to him from time to time when the boy walks closer to Jasmine and speaks to her in that soft tone that seems to have everybody so transfixed (Lief tells himself it makes him want to vomit, but he also catches himself mimicking it once or twice in his head to see if Jasmine might walk beside _him_ instead).

So, in general, Lief tolerates him. He kind of wishes he'd go away, largely because he feels like a wedge has been driven between him and his friends, but Dain is not actually an awful person or a bad travelling companion and there's not really any easy way to tell him to get lost. As time goes on, he starts to feel _guilty_ about wanting to get rid of him, if only because Dain really does seem to look up to him. One night he finds Lief cleaning his sword at the edge of the campsite and just watches him the whole time, asking him questions about where he got it and how _amazing_ it was that his father was actually a _blacksmith_ just like _Adin_, and how he wishes he could do that but Doom won't even let him help fire shoes for the horses (Lief doesn't blame him, to be honest – he doesn't know if he would be comfortable letting the dreamy boy near an open furnace either).

His general knowledge isn't too bad, either; more than once he warns them away from poisonous berries after Jasmine breaks off from the group, and can almost instantly name any tracks they come across. His hunting skills come in handy, too; one time, he stops them in the center of the road, pulls out his bow and shoots a pheasant Lief hadn't even _seen_ clean off its perch with a single arrow. It consoles Lief greatly to know that Jasmine isn't with them to complain about the needless slaughter as they eat the bird that night – or _worse_, to tell Dain how _cool_ and _manly_ he is. Not that Lief would be jealous, of course.

He doesn't really begin to _respect_ him, though, until the first time the Resistance boy saves his life.

Near death experiences are all in a day's work for Lief and his companions, but they seem to become more common without Jasmine and Kree to scout for them. This is particularly so as they reach the River Tor, which as _Dain_ points out is positively infested with pirates and bandits, even though it doesn't matter because it's close to _Tora_ and Tora is just the best thing ever. After he's been rambling about it for a while Lief would quite like to throw him over the bank and let him float all the way downstream to stupid Tora if it will shut him up.

"Did you know that Tora is supposed to be carved out of _one_ giant stone? Isn't that amazing? I mean, when have you ever seen a stone as big as a whole city? And how would you even carve it? It would be amazing if they used magic, but even more amazing if they did it by hand! The Torans are supposed to be so smart, you know, they even –"

"Dain, the Torans betrayed King Endon… if they hadn't, maybe things wouldn't be the way they are." Lief hopes that might quiet him down for a bit, but after a few moments Dain starts up again.

"Well, you can't really blame them, can you?" he says, and Lief narrowly resists the urge to groan out loud. "Didn't Endon and his predecessors ignore the Torans for a really long time? Maybe they would have helped. In fact, maybe if they'd contacted them sooner –"

With that, Dain proceeds to impart his theory on how the world would be a beautiful place if everyone loved Tora as much as him. Lief stops listening a few minutes in and thinks about how jealous he is of Barda, who is down at the river refilling their water bottles.

"Lief, look out!"

Then there is a dagger pressed to his throat and Lief freezes, feeling all the color drain from his face. All he's been through and he's going to die like _this_, with some rangy bandit feeling him up for valuables and please, _please_ don't let them find the Belt—

Suddenly Dain reacts faster than Lief would ever have expected – faster than the bandit must have expected, too, because his throat hasn't been cut yet – and before Lief knows it, the dagger is falling harmlessly to the ground in front of him. There's a sickening _crunch_. A howl of pain escapes the bandit and Lief springs away from him easily as his grip slackens; Lief turns to see the man trembling, clutching his arm in horror.

He looks at Dain only to see that the Resistance boy didn't even have his weapon drawn… meaning he just _broke a man's wrist with his bare hands_. Lief looks on in shock as the little slip of a boy stares their would-be-attacker down with an intensity that would have made Doom proud.

The bandit runs away faster than anyone Lief has ever seen.

Dain calmly picks up the dagger, examines it, twirls it in his hand and slips it into his satchel with a vague murmur about being able to carve more arrows with it. Lief stutters out something that sounds a little bit like "thank you" and Dain offers him the same gentle, dreamy smile he might in any other situation. Lief doesn't even know how to react when Dain takes his hand and sits him down against a nearby tree, checking him over for injuries. "Are you hurt?"

"How did you _do_ that?"

The boy smiles sheepishly, cheeks flushing a little. Is he being _bashful_ about breaking a _grown man's_ wrist? "W-well, it was nothing, really… I just did what I had to do…"

"You… really surprised me." This is the understatement of the century. However, Lief sees Dain smile a little wider.

"Once you know how the human body works, it's not so hard to find its weaknesses. May I?" He takes Lief by the arm and rolls up his sleeve before he can resist, gently squeezing above his elbow. "If I'd gone for this part of the arm, he might have cut you before I could disable him. You have to go down here… closer to the weapon…"

He slides his hand down Lief's arm and grips him by the wrist, bending it backwards gently. Lief feels a little shiver go down his spine. "Wrists are quite weak. Even if I didn't break it, I might have at least pulled it away from you. Anyway, that's one less bandit to worry about."

In spite of himself, Lief swallows, pulling his wrist away in case Dain decides to break that as well. "Isn't that… kind of a dirty move?"

"Well… yes…" Dain twists his lip a little. "I don't really like it, either, but Doom says that you shouldn't take chances. The enemy won't always play fair."

Lief notices he doesn't make a snide remark about how he ought to be grateful. In spite of what he's just done, Dain simply doesn't seem to have a genuinely mean bone in his body. Just as he's thinking this, he feels the other boy wrap his arms around him. "Dain, what are you—?"

"I'm glad," he hears him say quietly, "I thought I might lose you."

It's a little odd to hear himself talked about in a _possessive_ way, and Lief feels his cheeks go slightly red. "Well… Jasmine and Barda wouldn't be happy."

"_I_ wouldn't be happy." Something clicks inside Lief, and he wraps his arms around him gingerly, letting the other boy snuggle up to his chest. It's weird – _very_ weird – and kind of childish, but Lief finds himself not particularly minding, or at least not being bothered enough to move. Dain is warm and seems to practically mold himself to his shape, though he fidgets occasionally to get comfortable where he's taken up residence on Lief's lap.

Sure, he's weird and a little bit annoying, but he's not so bad. Lief even finds himself relaxing after a time, content that one screaming bandit might have dissuaded any others nearby. Slowly, his hand drifts up to the back of Dain's neck and he hears him hum softly in recognition of the touch. They lie like that for quite some time without moving, content in their quiet solitude.

It gets a little bit awkward, though, when Barda comes back with the water and Dain has fallen dead asleep on top of a very embarrassed Lief, who mumbles something about not being able to move in case his wrist gets broken.

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><p><strong>AN: **Finally wrote something that wasn't from Dain's perspective. Where is my prize? I wanted to elaborate on the Foe-Yay Lief and Dain seem to have going on. I find it really hard to write with Lief; he's not really the type of character I'm used to playing so I'm sorry for making him too bitchy and cynical even though I feel like I can get away with it in this since Dain is a perceived threat to his manliness in spite of being the least manly thing ever.

I deserve another prize for not writing "WELL IF YOU LOVE TORA SO MUCH DAIN THEN WHY DON'T YOU MARRY IT?" and I'm sorry for writing it now but I had to because it was just so funny and everyone needs to know what a comedic genius I am for having come up with this. I'M SORRY I JUST CAN'T RESIST. ):


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